Although I bought some nice glass this year (TS-E24 II, 100-400L, 70-200 2.8L II)if I were to travel a lot I guess that I wouldn't take everything with me.

So I would take the following:

EOS 5D mkII (no choices here: It is my only digital SLR)EF24-105 f/4LEF70-200 f/4L IS (yes one stop less than my 2.8 lens but very portable)TS-E 24 L II The above set can be carried in a small thinktank bag I own.An EF1.4X II could be put with its case in one of my jacket's pockets...So the above equipment is the absolute minimum.

If I were to get a larger bag (my lowepro Micro Trekker 200) I would also choose between:

EF16-35mm f/2.8L (version I) andZeiss Distagon 21mm f/2.8

I know the Zeiss is much less versatile but you have to see the edges of the photographs it takes...

Optionally one or more of the following:

50mm 1.8 (version I),85mm 1.8135mm f2.0 L (this would be nice for photographing people but still I do not believe that I would pass undetected...)

Of course a tripod is a must. I would get my gitzo systematic 3541LS with a Markins M20 head.

A smaller and even lighter combination would be enough but I do not intend to buy something soon. By the way this is my lighter combination (compared to my Manfrotto 055pro tripod and 410 head combination)

There's been a lot of good suggestions already, so I'll just discuss my personal thoughts.

I've done a lot of travel in the last couple of years. Nearly all of this has been with a 30D. Everyone above is right. A 5Dii is "better" than a 450D. But I look back at my photos from a crop camera and I don't feel any regrets. I love the ways my photos have turned out. If you look in magazines and on the net, some excellent photos are taken with a 450D. The only reason I'd consider changing is if you are doing a lot of low light photography as the 5Dii has a clear advantage. The other significant advantage of a full frame camera - shallower depth of field - is less relevant for travel photos. Usually, you don't want to blur the background totally. Instead, you'll want to leave a hint that you are somewhere exotic. Crop cameras can actually do this better, as you can use a wide aperture and still have more of the background in focus. I'd only consider changing cameras if your finances are in top shape. If you're concerned about having enough spending money, save it so that you can have more fun.

South America and Central America scream wildlife photos to me. Are you sure a 7D with a 1.6 crop factor and great autofocus isn't a better option? The 7D also has more weather sealing, which might be useful if caught out in a storm.

Until recently, my usual travel kit was a 30D, 10-22, 50, 70-200 f/4 IS, plus batteries, charger, filters, flashes, memory cards, tripod, laptop, small external HDD. I'd be prepared for nearly everything except serious wildlife photography. But after the second or third day, I'd generally have the same thought - "NEXT TIME I WON"T PACK SO MUCH!!" (Although I still haven't learnt...). It seems that you’re planning on taking more than I would, so I'll just mention two problems. First the weight. You've travelled to South America before and must know about the 35 degree heat and 100% humidity. Are you sure you want to carry another 5 - 8kg of camera and computer gear?

The second problem is the stress of taking it all. You can't take it everywhere with you all the time. There will be occasions when you will want to go to dinner, nightclubs, or a carefree walk around town. That often means leaving your camera gear and laptop in your hotel room. You'd be very unlucky to have problems, but if you're like most people, you'll worry a lot about it and it will spoil the trip a bit. A lot of people end up with a small day pack that they take everywhere. But that idea gets very tired very quickly. My solution is to store expensive gear amongst my dirty socks and laundry. Or to stash it on top of a cabinet or under a drawer. No thief would ever think of looking there....

Also, get more opinions about taking a tripod. The times I use mine, it’s invaluable. They're really useful for taking self-portraits in remote locations when you’re on your own and photos at night. But they are heavy and take up a lot of room. With a bit of ingenuity, you can often find another way to brace your camera.

Therefore, my “Do what I say, not what I do” advice would be to take less stuff and reconsider any expensive new purchases.

Also, you haven’t mentioned if you’re male or female and if you have a wife or a girlfriend. If you don’t have one, I’d ditch the new lens and get a wife or girlfriend as an accessory. They can be really handy as they almost always carry handbags. Each morning can start off with the same conversation. “Honey, do you mind if I put the 70-200 in your handbag”. This also allows you to double your carry-on luggage allowance. If you're a girl, just find a boyfriend that's chivalrous enough to carry your camera bag everywhere for you. (If you don't have a boyfriend or girlfriend to take with you, make it your first priority to find one upon landing and they can also act as a a tour guide and interpreter.)

Even better, get a baby. Strollers are really useful for transporting equipment around town. Plus they will also increase your carry-on allowance. Even better, with the exception of some minor fees, they generally fly for free. I can't think of any downsides to taking a baby on a six month backpacking trip through South America.

Hillsilly reminded me of a few key accessories you'll want to take for travel:

A cable lock (the type they use to lock skis). It's cheap, small, and light - and you can creatively wrap the cable to lock spare gear in Armoires, drawers, etc (this will become your white-lens lock - because after awhile that's what will be left back at the hotel/hostel/etc). If someone really wants your stuff, they can cut the cable... but people won't know what's in there - any you'll immediately know if someone broke in. It gave me piece of mind. And never store your spare lenses in a convenient bag with a handle... that's too easy for a thief to grab the entire kit. Store stuff in big piles so a thief grabs one or two things and runs.

Gaffers Tape. You want to disguise your external hard drives - make them ugly; the last thing anyone would ever want to steal. That's the problem with digital... in the old days, at least no one would steal your film... but now, hard drives and CF cards have value. I considered spraying my hard drives with the same stuff they spray under cars to prevent corrosion... but it's sticky. Gaffers tape and primer spray paint was my solution. Also, get an online backup service... I uploaded my treasured jpgs there... at least, if everything was stolen, I'd have the jpgs. Internet cafes also typically have a DVD burning service and you can periodically mail discs home to yourself. And always have two hard drives... a backup, and a backup of your backup. One of my drives went 'click' one day, near the end of a 4 month trip, with 10,000 images on it. And that was that. (Luckily I had a duplicate drive and lots of backups).

I also put black gaffers tape over the logos and the red rings on my camera when I'm in high theft areas (Gaffers tape is expensive, but it is designed for film gear and doesn't leave a sticky residue). Honestly, I'm not sure it really helps - a thief will steal a camera regardless of value... but it makes me feel a little better.

Sensor blower (e.g. Rocket). Either bring one, or you'll end up buying one on your trip.

A discrete bag. I used a Domke 803, and it holds a body with a 70-200 f/4 and a spare lens... and looks like a little messenger bag. I just switched to an 831, which is a little bigger... but haven't put it to the test yet.

I assume you'll have a compact camera as well... you better. Many of my BEST shots came from my little compact... because it was always in my pocket. But... I dropped into the Antarctic ocean while trying to climb an iceberg to get a shot of a penguin... which taught me to not use my cards to store images... get them off as soon as possible.

A Wolverine drive works well for that... and if you are on an expedition where someone got a great shot of you, you can always ask 'can I borrow your SD card for 5 minutes? You can slip their card in your wolverine and grab all their shots... and it counts as one of your extra hard drives... and doubles as card reader.

Bring SD/CF recovery software. I didn't... and I met way too many people who lost everything on their cards and were staying up all night trying to figure out how to recover their images. Some of the memory cards include recovery software for free... bring it and save it on every device you have.

I've also got a carabiner hanging from one of the straps on my camera bag. If I'm in a busy cafe, I'll click it around the leg of a table. Makes it a little harder for someone to pick up your bag unnoticed.

i've converted a compact leather manbag into a stealth camera bag, bassically just put in the insert from a lowepro messanger sling it can hold 5Dmk2 with 16-35f2.8, 50mm f1.4 and the 70-200 f2.8IS II a teleconverted spare cards and batteries, rapid strap and has a pocket for an ipad or similar sized device, may eve fit a macbook air but i havent tried one. pretty comfy to carry around town and looks far more casual than hauling around a big bag full of stuff when worn accross your body

00Q

Hillsilly reminded me of a few key accessories you'll want to take for travel:

A cable lock (the type they use to lock skis). It's cheap, small, and light - and you can creatively wrap the cable to lock spare gear in Armoires, drawers, etc (this will become your white-lens lock - because after awhile that's what will be left back at the hotel/hostel/etc). If someone really wants your stuff, they can cut the cable... but people won't know what's in there - any you'll immediately know if someone broke in. It gave me piece of mind. And never store your spare lenses in a convenient bag with a handle... that's too easy for a thief to grab the entire kit. Store stuff in big piles so a thief grabs one or two things and runs.

Gaffers Tape. You want to disguise your external hard drives - make them ugly; the last thing anyone would ever want to steal. That's the problem with digital... in the old days, at least no one would steal your film... but now, hard drives and CF cards have value. I considered spraying my hard drives with the same stuff they spray under cars to prevent corrosion... but it's sticky. Gaffers tape and primer spray paint was my solution. Also, get an online backup service... I uploaded my treasured jpgs there... at least, if everything was stolen, I'd have the jpgs. Internet cafes also typically have a DVD burning service and you can periodically mail discs home to yourself. And always have two hard drives... a backup, and a backup of your backup. One of my drives went 'click' one day, near the end of a 4 month trip, with 10,000 images on it. And that was that. (Luckily I had a duplicate drive and lots of backups).

I also put black gaffers tape over the logos and the red rings on my camera when I'm in high theft areas (Gaffers tape is expensive, but it is designed for film gear and doesn't leave a sticky residue). Honestly, I'm not sure it really helps - a thief will steal a camera regardless of value... but it makes me feel a little better.

Sensor blower (e.g. Rocket). Either bring one, or you'll end up buying one on your trip.

A discrete bag. I used a Domke 803, and it holds a body with a 70-200 f/4 and a spare lens... and looks like a little messenger bag. I just switched to an 831, which is a little bigger... but haven't put it to the test yet.

I assume you'll have a compact camera as well... you better. Many of my BEST shots came from my little compact... because it was always in my pocket. But... I dropped into the Antarctic ocean while trying to climb an iceberg to get a shot of a penguin... which taught me to not use my cards to store images... get them off as soon as possible.

A Wolverine drive works well for that... and if you are on an expedition where someone got a great shot of you, you can always ask 'can I borrow your SD card for 5 minutes? You can slip their card in your wolverine and grab all their shots... and it counts as one of your extra hard drives... and doubles as card reader.

Bring SD/CF recovery software. I didn't... and I met way too many people who lost everything on their cards and were staying up all night trying to figure out how to recover their images. Some of the memory cards include recovery software for free... bring it and save it on every device you have.

anyway... hard won lessons from the field.

Thanks, this is all very helpful stuff from board members. Getting a camera bag is the last thing that I will get once everything is finalised. Im not sure about getting a leather bag as it is a bit slow for my style of photography. I meant that I walk around, going to places quite fast and I travel with a daysack. Im thinking of getting some photography bag that is light to hold all my equipments INSIDE the backpack and it will stay in there the whole time. So it acts as:

1) a bag that seperates camera stuff from the rest2) just for protection against my backpack thrown everywhere during a tough 6 months trip on chicken buses.

Im thinking of getting a smaller protective bag so just to fit the camera with 24-70 lens. And I till but that in the day sack when Im out during the day. Im not a fan of those sling shot bags, it screams"rob me" and the zips are too accessible. Also it is very bulky and takes up volume in the backpack.

Already much good advice has been given (well done, applause to several folks)

I have a Canon 7D and have travelled with it already to many places. Whether I go on short term or longer term trips, I've been appreciating taking mainly versatile zoom lenses.

For a full frame (eg Canon 5DmkII) - the Canon 24-105mm makes a lot of sense. I use my Canon 15-85mm lens on my 7D for most of my shots. I also take the 70-300mm as my most common 'second lens' (awesome IQ and very hand-holdable telezoom).

A lot about which lenses, DOES depend on your shooting style. There are time when I might want ultra wide angle (eg for architecture / some dramatic landscapes) or a fast prime (for eg candid portraits, or low light photography).

When I went to SE Asia last year, I took along my 'whole kit' (including 2 camera bodies). I'm not sure I'll be doing that again in a hurry - because basically all of the time I had 1 camera with me, and the other in the hotel, and 'extra lenses' did add weight. I have lived 'overseas' for over a decade, and never had anything stolen from me in my life (except a t-shirt left drying on a village fence in remote Romania).

I do back up photos every evening both on a laptop and then on a portable USB powered Gigaone hard-drive / card reader, keeping both separate so there is less risk of 'loosing all'

Generally when I travel for some tie again, I'll probably take either JUST my 7D with 15-85mm (and no tripod). This is also what I use when I travel interstate to Tasmania (I'm in South Australia) to visit my extended family and friends there for a week or two each year. However if I went on a photographic excursion (eg a 1 day or few day travel specifically to take photos) -then I might take specific lenses (eg a macro too). For me though, 'less is more' - as it allows me to feel freer, travel with greater ease and 'actually' free up my moving to take more photos when I want, rather than carting a lot of things.

That's just how I've evolved over the years.

I do hope the OP has a great, wonderful 'around the world' travel (I'm jealous!) -and we might get to see some of the best of the best photographic outcomes! Best wishes.

Paul

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I appreciate using my 7D and 350D cameras along with a host of lenses & many accessories to capture quality photos, and share with friends.

My travel setup is similar to the 3 lens option above. I used it in SE Asia for 3 months this year, plus another 1 month in the U.S., plus another 1 month backpacking at home in Canada. I've used a similar setup for a cumulative of at least 18 months on the road over the past 5 years.

Your 450D is a camera capable of great photos. No need to upgrade to something heavier.

Your kit is complete, but heavy. When I travel, I find less is best. Not only does it save my shoulders and back, but it forces me to mentally compose the shots I take. My travel kit is a body, 35mm f1.4 and an 85mm f1.8 paired with an exceptionally adaptable addidas zoom capability. Both lenses have superior sharpness, give me enough variety to cover nearly every situation, are fast enough for day/night use and allow me to move about with the second lens in my jacket pocket. I travel with an older mac12 inch laptop and a lacie hardened external drive, the assorted chargers, cleaners, notepad, etc. I keep a neutraldensity filter in my pocket with a lens brush and enjoy the local atmosphere.